Chapter Seven #2
I hadn’t thought about that memory in years. It was the first and last time I had ever gotten suspended from school. I laughed so hard, my stomach balled up and tears rolled down my eyes.
“Oh my GOD! Daddy, you just took me back. I remember that.” I laughed as I placed my hand over my face in embarrassment.
“Remember what you told me?” he questioned.
“No.” I lied even though I remembered exactly what happened and exactly what I told him.
“You said that little ugly boy that lives around the corner named Marcus kept picking on Co because he wore his new glasses. He was already sad about the glasses because he thought they made him look like a nerd. I spent all day trying to tell him that the glasses looked fine because his blind self needed to see. Well, this nappy-head little boy told him his glasses were ugly and made my brother cry so I hit him in the eye so he could wear some glasses too.”
My father howled so loudly his voice reverberated off the trees.
“Your mama was so mad, but I wouldn’t let her touch my baby girl because how could she get mad at you for doing exactly what we taught you? To stand up for your little brother,” my father reiterated.
“The crazy thing about it was I had let it go on for a few days before that incident,” I added.
“That little boy had been bullying Co, and he wouldn’t defend himself,” I fumed. “The glasses were just the final straw. He never messed with my brother after that,” I said proudly as I looked over the water and smiled.
Daddy nodded, “So your little behind went to school and decided to beat up the bully,” he said.
“He deserved it,” I shrugged.
“Do you remember that you were the one that got suspended and Co didn’t?” Daddy smirked at me. “You sat in that same spot, on this same dock, crying because you got punished for protecting your brother. You told me Co don’t fight for himself, so I have to fight for him,” daddy smiled.
The lake grew quiet as the weight of the situation pressed down on me. We were in our mid-thirties, and I was still fighting for Co because I thought he couldn’t fight for himself.
Daddy looked over at me and reached out to touch my hand, “Baby girl, Co ain’t ten anymore.”
I swallowed hard and nodded as tears filled my eyes.
“He still needs me, Daddy.” I looked down at my hands to avoid looking at my father in his eyes. No matter how old I got, he still had a way of making me feel like I was that little girl with two pigtails and a dress that came down to my ankles.
“He's a grown man, Brichelle. The bullies ain’t ten-year-old little boys no more. Now the bullies are responsibility, a marriage he destroyed, kids he is neglecting. If you keep beating up his bullies, he’ll never learn how to fight for himself,” my father told me sadly.
“He still needs me!” I stuck to it, but my father had read me for filth, and we both knew it.
“No, he doesn’t, baby girl,” Daddy laughed.
The words sounded familiar and I thought about another man who had told me the same thing less than 24 hours ago.
I stared at the water and wiped my tears from my eyes as they cascaded down my face.
I was worse than a helicopter mom who didn’t know how to let go of a grown child I had always felt like it was my job to slay the vampires so Co wouldn’t have to, but while I was co-playing Buffy the Vampire Slayer, I was creating an even bigger monster.
He didn’t know how to be a husband or a father; he only knew how to be my little brother.
“What if he never changes?” I whispered my fears aloud.
Daddy shrugged, “Then that’s his burden and his cross to carry.
Do you know how many parents raised their children the best they could and those children turned out to be a disappointment?
Some things are out of your control no matter how many bullies you beat up,” Daddy told me as a fish connected to his rod, and he began to reel it in.
After a brief silence, he said, “You remind me of your mama.”
My chest tightened as I thought about my mother. Losing a parent never got easier; you just learned how to deal with it more each day. I missed my mother so much it hurt. She was beautiful, sweet, and sassy. She taught me everything I knew about being a woman.
“She was the same way at your age. Everybody's problems became her problems. If she cared about you and you were in trouble, she was in trouble too. Everyone else’s pain became hers, and I think that’s why she was so hard on you.
She didn’t want you to grow up and get taken advantage of by anyone, not even your own brother because of how big your heart is. ” He smiled softly.
“How did she learn how to stop pouring so much into others?” I asked him sadly.
“I came along,” Daddy smirked.
I looked over at him in surprise.
“What did you do when you came along?”
“I told her to sit her ass down. Your mama took care of everybody until she met somebody that could take care of her. Who’s taking care of you, baby girl? You are a strong woman, a boss; you run that gym better than your old man did in his prime, but who's taking care of you?” he questioned.
It was the first time my father had ever given me credit for how hard I worked at the gym.
I knew that he was old school and he wanted my brother to be the boss, but I proved that I was a better fit for the job.
I opened my mouth to answer his question, but nothing came out.
The truth was nobody was taking care of me. I was the fixer.
“I think I met a man who could.” I shrugged shyly.
“Well, let him,” Daddy advised as he gripped my hand tightly.
I nodded my head before laying it on my father’s shoulder. I was glad that I had come to visit him, and I decided to call Zumo and ask him on a date since he had been so kind to me. I hoped that I wouldn’t regret it. My father had never led me wrong before; I knew he wouldn’t start now.